Co-Founder, Generate
Co-founder of Generate, a cross-platform production and management company; co-founder, and later president, of the now defunct WB Network
PROFILE
Jordan Levin
Guest
FROM Jordan Levin
Which Way, L.A.?
Hollywood Meets the Internet and Economic Reality Hollywood is waking up to technology and economics. Studios are becoming revolving doors for executives, and the standards for "green-lighting" new projects aren't what they used to be.
To the Point
Hollywood Meets the Internet and Economic Reality With so much free content on-line, the business model for movies just doesn't work any more. Revenues from DVD's are declining fast, as is backing from wealthy "angels" with big money to spend. And this was a summer of box-office flops. Studios are becoming revolving doors for executives, and are basing productions on comic books, graphic novels, webisodes and video games that can be serialized and "branded" for easy marketing. "Specialty" projects aimed at adults are fewer and farther between. We see how the wide world of entertainment is changing.
To the Point
Viacom Sues YouTube The Internet website YouTube is growing like mad. Last year's nine million monthly visitors skyrocketed to 133 million this year, and Google purchased YouTube for $1.65 billion. Surveys show that 100 million video clips are viewed on YouTube every day and they're not all amateur home movies. Big-time producers want their pieces of YouTube's action. Viacom -- which owns Comedy Central , MTV and Nickelodeon --says Jon Stewart , Stephen Colbert and SpongeBob SquarePants have been appearing on YouTube for free. So, Viacom has sued YouTube for a billion dollars in damages. Will innovation and creativity be delayed as the law catches up with technology? We get perspective from attorneys, media analysts and former network execs.
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To the Point
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.
To the Point
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.
To the Point
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.
To the Point
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?